June 5, 2018
Cheese Wars
The growing trade wars have not spared the dairy industry. A number of countries have responded to US protectionist efforts with “countermeasures” on a number of US manufactured goods, cheese and yogurt among them.
• • •
May 6, 2018
Franco Follies
Are modern consumers so unthinking as to believe that a product clearly labeled “vegan cheese” contains milk product? Or that a package of “vegetarian sausage” contains ground meat?
• • •
April 26, 2018
EU-Mexico Deal Poised to Hurt US Dairy
Feedstuffs reports that “Mexico appears poised to enact new restrictions on the use of common cheese names such as ‘Parmesan,’ ‘Muenster’ and ‘Feta’ for products sold in Mexico — a development that runs counter to existing trade agreements with the U.S.”
• • •
January 5, 2018
Raw Milk Legislation in Brazil
As reported by Slowfood.com, raw milk cheese making received a major boost in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina last month with the approval of a proposed law that “would allow for the production and sale of raw milk cheese and thus legalize the activities of the raw milk cheese producers already present in the State.” According to the article, 90% of artisan cheese producers “have ceased production” in the past ten years. With any luck, the new legislation will right that wrong.
• • •
December 15, 2017
Black Market Cheesemaking
The indelible Cato Institute ran its own analysis of a fascinating Atlas Obscura blog post examining the historical role of black markets in preserving Spanish cheesemaking. They’re both great reads, and, worse, disquietingly relevant in light of recent trends and the ever-expanding number of rules and regulations in the dairy industry. Give them a read.
• • •
November 29, 2017
New Jersey Raw Milk Crackdown
The good folks at Food Safety News have highlighted recent efforts by the New Jersey Public Health and Food Protection Program to clamp down on the sale and distribution of raw milk in the state. This includes the issuance of cease and desist orders against “at least eight families”, including local food clubs that distribute raw milk from Pennsylvania to New Jersey residents for personal use. Despite sharing a name with a dairy cow, Jersey is one of “seven states to prohibit the sale of raw milk in any form.”
• • •
September 29, 2017
Artisan Cheese in an Administrative World
As far as federal agencies go, the FDA is old at 102 years. But cheese is older. About 10,000 years older. So it should come as no surprise that the agency’s overzealous efforts to regulate the ancient pastoral art of cheese-making have been met with skepticism from artisan producers and purchasers alike. Yet as Time magazine reports in an excellent feature, the “FDA is Coming Around to the Idea That Cheese, Microbes, and Mold Can Work Just Fine.” And that is good news indeed.
• • •
August 12, 2017
Ultrafiltered Milk & FDA Labeling
The National Law Review published a very helpful overview of FDA’s recent guidance letter announcing “that FDA will exercise enforcement discretion regarding the use and labeling of fluid ultrafiltered milk and fluid ultrafiltered nonfat milk to make certain cheeses and related cheese products.”
• • •
June 16, 2017
EU Court Rules on Dairy-Style Names
The BBC is reporting that the European Court of Justice has ruled that “[p]lant-based foods cannot be sold in the European Union using terms such as milk, butter and cheese.” In so ruling, the Court rejected efforts by German food company TofuTown from selling their products with names like “Soyatoo Tofu Butter” and Veggie Cheese.”
• • •
May 14, 2017
Florida Creamery Wins First Amendment Challenge in the 11th Circuit
The Eleventh Circuit, with D.C. Circuit Senior Judge Sentelle sitting by designation, ruled in favor of Ocheesee Creamery against Florida regulators on First Amendment grounds. The case centered on Florida’s refusal to allow the Creamery to call their all-natural product “skim milk.”
• • •